Radicals and the Birth and Death of DNA

Abstract

Radicals have important functions in the enzymatic synthesis of deoxyribonucleotides and their destruction by antibiotics. The chemical basis for these reactions is that radicals dramatically speed up ionic reactions. Nature has developed methods to generate these radicals under mild conditions in water as solvent. The 'catalytic' effect of these reactive intermediates is described.

Keywords

• Bleomycin
• Dna
• Enzymes
• Radicals
• Ribonucleotide reductase